The Look of SyFy's "Alice"

Cathy Bates & Colm Meaney as The Queen & King of HeartsThis week the SyFy channel played a two-night mini series entitled Alice. In case you missed it, it's a modern version of the Alice in Wonderland story from director Nick Willing who had done a classic telling of the story just a few years ago. I thought that the program could and should have been stretched into a third segment to alleviate the rushed feeling of the conclusion, but overall it was great entertainment. And, while there were other flaws in the story and acting here and there, the aesthetics of the program were simply fantastic.

As with most stories in science-fiction genre, the bad guys are slick and polished while the good guys are organic, cluttered, and darkly lit to indicate the secretive nature of their resistance. As the director said, the Hearts in this version are like "posh gangsters", which is totally appropriate. Their sets are mod and gleaming, full of streamlined furniture and pops of red and black.

Alice meets Mad March and the 10 of Clubs

I also appreciated how the classic characters were given clever updates. For instance, The Duchess is a glam go-go girl, Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum are evil manipulators, and the March Hare has been made into a chiling assassin called "Mad March". Even the goofy Walrus and Carpenter have been reduxed into scientists at the center of the Hearts' evil plot to brainwash the world.

Dee and Dum torture Alice in the Truth RoomThe Suits in the Court of Hearts

The costumes were perfectly appropriate too; Alice's blue pinafore is updated to a trim blue sheath paired with tights and biker boots, while the Hearts' royal court is called "The Suits" and is approprately attired in black and white suits with card numbers screened onto the fabric. I especially loved how The Caterpillar was given a puffy corded smoking jacket and round spectacles; the look was perfectly caterpillar-esque while still being human.

Alice and Jack visit The Caterpillar

Filled with an exceptional cast and fun little references back to the original Lewis Carroll tale, Alice is definitely worth watching. I do wish there had been more Cheshire Cat and certainly some talking flowers, but I do think the result was a nice attempt at modernizing the original in a clever way. I always love a new take on a classic, especially when it looks like this!

Comments

[alex/strawberry lemonade girl]

drat I missed it!!! i'm glad you gave it a thumbs up....do you know if they'll be re-running it??

[Ms. P&C]

Yes! On the SyFy website they say they're playing both episodes back to back this Sunday, December 13th at 5 & 7 PM... YAY!!!

Here's the site: http://www.syfy.com/schedule/index.php

[Lanie]

Does anyone know where to get the boots she wears? Love them!

[Ms. P&C]

I'm not sure what they are - but they're definitely cool! I'll bet you could find something similar from Frye since they do the best motorcycle boots.

[Mack]

The boots are Fluevog Sopranos Inge boots... Unfortunately the purple is not being made, but you can still get them in black
http://www.fluevog.com/code/?w[0]=search%3Ainge&pp=1&view=detail&p=8&colourID=2089

[Gina]

Lanie? I actually saw a pair that looked JUST like the ones she wears at Rue21 just yesterday. They aren't on the website but they were there in the store.